Cassandra
by Rainpath
Summary: In ancient Greek mythology, Cassandra was cursed by Apollo to have visions of evil and misfortune. In modern day Pennsylvania, Emily Fletcher has been getting premonitions, but who is sending them? Emily-centric.
1. Cassandra

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series or the song "Cassandra", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Theatre of Tragedy respectively.**

* * *

_**He gave to her, yet tenfold claim'd in return**_

_**She hath no life but the one he for her wrought**_

_**Proffer'd to her his wauking heart, she turn'd it down**_

_**Riposted with a tell-tale lore of lies and scorn**_

_**Prophetess or fond?**_

_**Tho' her parle of truth**_

_**"I ken to-morrow -- Refell me if ye can!"**_

_**Yet the kiss and breath -- Apollo's bane**_

_**Seer of the future, not of twain**_

_**"Sicker!" Quoth Cassandra**_

Fifteen year old Emily Fletcher walked out of the front doors of her high school, carrying her bookbag and flute case. Marching band practice had just ended, and she needed to get home to help her mother at home with the animals. This week had been especially busy, and Emily wanted to help out in whatever way she could. The setting sun cast a golden glow on her curly auburn hair as she trudged home, pulling her coat tighter around her body. Autumn added a colorful new look to the quiet suburban scenery, and Emily watched as a cold breeze forced an old oak tree to relinquish some of its red and gold leaves. As her white, two-story house came into view, the young mage's thoughts turned to spending Christmas with her father and stepmother in Colorado. She would be leaving in three weeks, and she and her friends had to work out feeding schedules for the animals at the preserve, not to mention closing down the Pet Palace for the season, because she knew her mother wouldn't be able to handle both the veterinary practice and the animal hotel, which would undoubtedly be flooded with pets while people went on their holiday vacations.

_**Still is she lief and quaint in his eye**_

_**A sight divine?**_

_**A mistress fuell'd by his prest haughtiness**_

_**If he did grant, wherefore then did he not foresee**_

_**Belike egal as it to him might be?**_

Emily turned the knob of her front door and was immediately greeted by the sight of a sleeping ferret sprawled on the kitchen floor. She stepped over him and entered the living room, calling out, "Mom?"

Carolyn Fletcher's voice came from her bedroom. "Hey Em, I thought we'd go out to eat tonight," The healer's redhaired mother said as she closed her door behind her. "That alright?"

Emily nodded. "Do you need any help with the animals?"

"No," the vet replied. "Two of the dogs were picked up today, so that makes it easier. Oh, and call Kara, she called about an hour ago."

"Okay, did she say what she wanted?"

"No." Carolyn answered as she walked into the kitchen and scooped Ozzie off the floor. "Have a nice nap?" She asked the golden-brown rodent.

_**Prophetess or fond?**_

_**Tho' her parle of truth**_

_**"I ken to-morrow -- Refell me if ye can!"**_

_**Yet the kiss and breath -- Apollo's bane**_

_**Seer of the future, not of twain**_

_**"Sicker!" Quoth Cassandra**_

Emily picked up the cordless phone in her room and dialed Kara's number. She waited patiently while it rang twice, before hearing a click and Kyle's voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Kyle, is Kara there? She called me earlier."

"Yeah, hold on. Kara! Emily's on the phone!"

After some shuffling on the other end of the line, Kara answered.

"Hey! I wanted to talk to you," the Blazing Star said.

"So I hear," Emily replied.

"Lorren contacted me," her voice dropped to a whisper. "He says something very strange is going on. He wants to talk to all of us. Can you come to Ravenswood tomorrow?"

Emily mentally ran through her chores. "How about around noon?"

"Perfect. See you then," Kara promptly hung up the phone.

Emily placed her phone back in its cradle. She was worried-- They hadn't heard anything about the Dark Sorceress or the Spider Witch in quite a while, which had given them time to live fairly normal lives. What if the mages had let their guard down and they had been planning something the girls wouldn't be able to handle?

_**Or was he an aeried being?**_

_**Or was he weening -- alack nay mo**_

_**Her naysay wrought his heart**_

_**Her daffing was the grave of all hope**_

_**She belied her own words**_

_**He thought her life, save moreo'er scourge**_

_**She held him august, yet wee**_

_**He left her ne'er without his heart**_

Emily ran.

She was sprinting barefoot through an unfamiliar forest at breakneck speed, while she felt something evil and loathsome chasing after her. Branches whipped at her face, while rocks and sticks on the forest floor made her feet bleed. Her lungs screamed for breath and her throat hurt from the cold wind, but she had to keep ahead of the malevolent _thing_ behind her. The Healer rushed blindly on, feeling utterly alone and desperate. Suddenly, a log came into her view, that she hadn't spotted until too late. She found herself flying through the air as if in slow motion, and landing painfully on her ankle. She watched helplessy as her foot twisted at an unnatural angle and closed her eyes as she felt the evil thing catching up to her coming closer, closer...

The redheaded mage's eyes snapped open to darkness. At first, she panicked because she felt something binding her legs, until she realized that it was her bedsheet. She took a few deep, shaky breaths to rid herself of the last remnants of the dream as her eyes adjusted. She sat up and ran her fingers through her thick curls, finding one tangled knot after another. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table, which read 4:29 AM. She sighed, figuring she wasn't going to get back to sleep, and got up to feed the animals.

I need coffee, she thought drily.

_**Prophetess or fond?**_

_**Tho' her parle of truth**_

_**"I ken to-morrow -- Refell me if ye can!"**_

_**Yet the kiss and breath -- Apollo's bane**_

_**Seer of the future, not of twain**_

_**"Sicker!" Quoth Cassandra**_

_**Or was he an aeried being?**_

_**Or was he weening -- alack nay mo**_

_**Her naysay wrought his heart**_

_**Her daffing was the grave of all hope**_

_**She belied her own words**_

_**He thought her life, save moreo'er scourge**_

_**She held him august, yet wee**_

_**He left her ne'er without his heart**_

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Yup... New story! This one is centered around Emily, of course, and will be twenty chapters long. Hope you enjoy!

--Rainpath


	2. Die Alive

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series or the song "Die Alive", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Tarja Turunen respectively.**

_**Open up the night, led by just a feeling**_

_**All around is light, everything is healing**_

Emily closed the gate to the last dog's kennel when she had finished pouring kibble into his bowl. She sat up and pulled the elastic from her hair, letting her ponytail fall free and her hair settle around her shoulders. It was eleven o'clock, an hour before she had to meet Adriane and Kara at Ravenswood. When she walked back to her house, she found her mother going over some files at the kitchen counter.

"Oh, hey Emily," Carolyn said distractedly.

"Hi Mom. I'm leaving in about half an hour--Are you sure you don't need me to anything else?"

"No, everything's been taken care of. I'll handle Mr. Handal when he comes to pick up his dog. It the Golden Retriever, Jessie, right?"

Emily nodded. "Thanks, Mom." She walked up the stairs into her room to change. Opening her closet, she started to reach for a loose t-shirt-- Then remembered that they were going to contact Aldenmor. Her thoughts turned to Marlin, and she blushed. She let go of the blue fabric and looked at her wardrobe. The redhaired healer picked out a white girlie top with the Stonehill Unicorns logo in black lettering (a gift from the student council) and her favorite pair of blue jeans-- dark wash, no holes, and rested on her hips comfortably-- and grabbed a black and chain belt from her dresser. She looked at herself in her full-length mirror after putting on her clothes and smiled.

_**No more fate and no more mystery **_

_**Even as time falls away, I live my days **_

_**Every moment and its memory**_

_**Not only to survive: To die alive**_

"Oh good, you're here," Adriane said to her friend when she opened the cottage door. "Kara just called. She's on her way."

"Do you know what this is about?" Emily asked.

The dark-haired girl shook her head. "Kara just said that Lorren contacted her and told her that something weird was happening on Aldenmor. You?"

"Same. Oh, here she comes."

A black Lexus pulled up at the front gates, and Kara jumped out of the passenger side. "Bye Dad!" She called as she charged through the gates and down the main path. Her father's car pulled away, and she greeted the other two mages with a dazzling smile. "Ready?" She asked them.

The Healer and Warrior nodded.

_**Overwhelming love, heaven's just a feeling**_

_**Singing in my blood, keeping me from kneeling**_

The mages stood in the portal field, dragonflies, bonded animals, and of course, Ozzie with them. The brightly colored dragonflies began to spin a web, working together to make the picture clearer. Lorren's pale green face looked out, recognizable even with the faint layer of static over the small portal.

"Kara?" He asked.

"Yep! The rest of the group too," She informed him. She grinned, then remembered why they were talking in the first place. "What do you think is going on over there?"

"I think you'd better just get over here," the Goblin Prince replied.

_**No more fate and no more mystery**_

_**Even as time falls away, I live my days **_

_**Every moment and its memory**_

_**Not only to survive: To die alive **_

Walking through a mirror-portal was always a strange sensation. Emily didn't think that she'd ever get used to it. It was like stepping through a cool, thick, silver-colored liquid for a split second, then leaving a kind of queasy feeling in your stomach afterward. The effect wore off after a few seconds, though, and Emily greeted Lorren, Tasha, and Queen Raelda with the rest of her friends.

"These frequencies are off," Tasha muttered to herself, pushing buttons on a mechanical device frantically.

Raelda regarded her. "Hello, mages, bondeds," she said. Her face betrayed no emotion, portraying only a queenly detachment. Her eyes, however, the Healer noted, were worried. "We have a serious problem."

_**Die alive**_

Everyone sat in the richly decorated parlor of the Goblin castle, listening to the King and Queen speak.

"We believe someone or something may be trying to undermine all the kingdoms of Aldenmor and the Fairy Realms. Creatures are being struck down with fatal illnesses. People are caught in 'freak' accidents. Magical wards block places of vital information, like Tasha's lab--"

"I can't even step foot in my _own_ lab!" The Palace Sorceress cried angrily. "Everytime I try to go in, fires erupt right in front of me!"

The King glanced at her. "She's right. Some force is at work here. We're going to need the cooperation of everyone to fight off whatever new evil is lurking," he said gravely.

Emily flashed on her nightmare. Something _was_ at work here. She clenched her jaw tightly as the meeting dispersed. This didn't feel like the Dark Sorceress's or the Spider Witch's doing. No, something else entirely was awake and hungry for power.

_**No more fate and no more mystery**_

_**Even as time falls away, I live my days **_

_**Every moment and its memory**_

_**Not only to survive: To die alive**_


	3. Selling Out

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series or the song "Selling Out". They belong to Rachel Roberts and Tristania respectively.**

**Sorry I didn't update last week, but I decided to have a life that weekend and then had a lot of schoolwork during the week. But enjoy the third chapter (sorry it's so short)!**

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_**Am I alive?**_

_**Feels like dying**_

_**Down, down**_

_**Fists are striking me**_

_**It gets so dark**_

_**Or are my eyes blinded?**_

_**Down, down**_

_**Boots are kicking me**_

_**The coward, the sinner, the theif**_

_**The liar, the misfit, the creep**_

Emily hiked through Ravenswood Preserve in the bitter cold, trying to gather her thoughts. The scenes from her nightmare played out in her head, crystal clear. She could still feel the _thing_'s bloodthirsty evil behind her, causing her to look back, just for comfort. But instead of a fearsome monster, the only things she saw were the bare trees coated with new frost. Two does stepped lightly across the path, glancing quickly at Emily and then darting into the woods gracefully. Emily sighed and brushed a lock of curly red hair from her face. It was just a dream, she tried to tell herself.

The Healer looked up at the shining winter sun, squinting against its rays. A freezing wind blew, chilling her to the bone. A few leaves and weak branches moved with the wind, instantly changing the calm, serene atmosphere to sinister and foreboding. The gray sky no longer seemed so comforting. Emily blinked as her vision began to waver-- then clutched her head in pain.

She screamed. Her voice echoed throughout the forest, startling birds and animals enjoying the quiet afternoon. The unbearable pain in her head wouldn't relent, and she sank to her knees, praying for it to stop. Emily opened her eyes, still hurting, but realized that she was no longer in Ravenswood.__

I'm running out of steps to walk

_**Of air to breathe**_

_**And words to talk**_

_**I'm running out of noise to make**_

_**Of jokes to tell**_

_**And hearts to break**_

The white-hot pain faded slowly until it was an uncomfortable throb in the back of her mind. Emily looked around at her new surroundings, taking in the immense, cavernous rock walls and sparse trees.

But one could not miss the massacre.

Animals lay on their sides, dead or dying. Emily looked for the usual culprit--black fire-- but there were no visible marks on these animals. They seemed to have just dropped dead. Emily looked into the distance. A soft blue mist hung around the area, but the Healer didn't pay it any heed, for bright bursts of magic lit up the sky to the east. Very _familiar_ magic, in fact. Diamond-white fire exploded with a loud _crack_, and blue and golden magic followed.

"Where am I?" She called out to no one, her voice bouncing off the walls and rushing back to her, increasing her headache a million times. She squeezed her eyes shut once again, and when she opened them, she was back in the familiar forest. Emily leaned against a tree, gasping for breath, tears stinging her eyes. __

For days burned and frozen lies

_**The years that passed me by**_

_**The child in me just died**_

_**The scars in me will never heal**_

_**An overdose of nothingness**_

_**My visions are for sale-- I'm selling out**_

Adriane's head jerked up as she heard the bloodcurdling scream. She capped the bottle of rubbing alcohol and threw the cotton ball away. She pulled down her left sleeve, covering old scars. The dark-haired Warrior called Dreamer telepathically, telling him to find the source of the scream as she charged out of the cottage.

"_It's Emily!_" He cried in her head. "_Near the Rocking Stone!_"

The ancient monument came into view, as well as Emily's powder blue jacket and unmistakable red hair. Dreamer was already there, pressing his soft black muzzle into her hand.

"Em!" She called. Her friend looked up, and smiled uncertainly.

_**An overdose of nothingness (I'm selling out)**_

_**An overdose of nothingness**_

_**An overdose of nothingness**_

_**An overdose of nothingness**_

_**I am alive, but always falling**_

_**Down, down**_

_**I hear voices calling me**_

_**The coward, the sinner, the thief**_

_**The liar, the misfit, the creep**_

Emily looked up when she heard Adriane's voice. Something wasn't right. Her approaching friend didn't look normal. As she watched, Adriane's facial features changed from concerned to a cruel sneer, her skin changed from tanned to deathly pale, and her dark hair turned silver. Emily backed up. It was the Dark Sorceress!

"Stay away from me!" She yelled, looking at Dreamer. His gentle green eyes transformed to bloodred, and his comforting whimpers to a snarl. Emily turned and ran deeper into the forest, not caring where she ended up. Her only thought was to get away.

_**I am alive, kind of wasted**_

_**Down, down**_

_**Hands are reaching me**_

_**The coward, the sinner, the theif**_

_**The liar, the misfit, the creep**_

_**I'm running out of dreams to dream**_

_**Of tears to spend**_

_**And screams to scream**_

_**I'm running out of life again**_

_**Smothering...**_

_**Turning into dust**_


	4. Within Me

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series, or the song "Within Me", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Lacuna Coil respectively.**

_**There's something about you that makes me feel bad**_

_**I wasn't there when a thin line destroyed your soul**_

Emily ran blindly through the trees, her sneakers pounding on the ground, over and over and over again. Objects flashed in her peripheral vision until they became just a blur. She could feel it behind her again. That malicious, angry presence, chasing her, waiting for a weak moment to attack. She felt like a gazelle being hunted by a lion. Emily squeezed her hazel eyes shut, and didn't notice a large, fallen tree branch in front of her. Her right foot struck the branch, sending her flying. She landed on her hands and knees, panting slightly. She kept her eyes shut, feeling the presence coming closer...closer...

_**I search every corner there's nowhere to hide how I feel**_

_**Ignorance, sacrifice**_

_**Some days it's harder, let's face it, it's all about me**_

_**Deeply into your own**_

The presence abruptly halted and disappeared. Emily heard fast footfalls approaching, crunching through the leaves.

"Emily!" Adriane called, dropping to her knees and placing a hand on her friend's back. "Are you alright?"

Emily opened her eyes cautiously, and inwardly sighed with relief. She no longer saw the sorceress in the Warrior's features.

"Fine," She replied, standing up. Adriane shot her a disbelieving glance, standing up as well. As the dark-haired girl was a few inches taller than her friend, Emily had to look up at her. Adriane opened her mouth to ask her for the truth, but the Healer cut her off. "I'm just stressed. Really."

Adriane still looked like she didn't believe her, but didn't push it. "Come back to the cottage," she said.

_**Deep within me**_

_**Life's crawling and wasting my days**_

_**Another night gone and I know there will be another way**_

_**I'm leading myself to be free**_

_**In this eternal goodbye**_

Emily sat at the round, polished pine table in the cottage's kitchen, clutching a mug of hot tea. She raised the white glass mug to her mouth, taking a small sip and putting it back down quickly. Too hot, she thought. Dreamer lay at her feet, ears twitching back and forth. Adriane stood, leaning against the counter across from her. Her own tea had been placed on the counter next to her.

_**Something about you will make me stronger**_

_**Now I'm aware, when a man falls rebound**_

_**My fault**_

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"_Yes_," Emily replied, exasperated. The visions and exhaustion were getting to her. Her usually endless patience was running thin.

"It's just that--"

"Look, _you're_ the last person whose in any position to ask about _my_ mental state," The Healer snapped. Dreamer raised his head, looking at his pack-mate. She flinched, but remained where she was and didn't speak. Emily instantly regretted her words, but her face betrayed nothing. She pushed back her chair and stood. "I'm going home," she announced. "I'm going to clear my head and get some homework done. If you need help around here, call Kara." With that, she walked calmly over the front door and let herself out, back into the chilly winter air.

_**I search every corner there's nowhere to hide how I feel**_

_**Ignorance, sacrifice**_

_**Some days it's harder, let's face it, it's all about me**_

_**Deeply into your own **_

Emily sat cross-legged on her bed, head down, red hair shielding her face. The only light came from the soft glow of her computer moniter. She glanced at her healing stone, which would seem normal if not for the black edges. She could hear her mother and Ozzie in the kitchen just outside her bedroom as they cooked spaghetti. It was giving her a headache, something she _really_ didn't need right now.

"What wrong with me?" She whispered, her words coming out as a small, desperate plea. She ran her fingers through her red curls, beyond frustrated.

_**Deep within me**_

_**Life's crawling and wasting my days**_

_**Another night gone and I know there will be another way**_

_**I'm leading myself to be free**_

_**In this eternal goodbye, goodbye**_

"My dear," A voice hissed as the image of the Healer faded in his mirror, "don't worry, when this is over, it'll just seem like a bad dream." He turned to a small gargoyle waiting patiently on a marble column.

"Setia!" The gargoyle opened her bright yellow eyes at her bonded's call. She raised her wings, ready to take flight.

"No, not yet, dear," The tall man patted the creature's head. "I just wanted to leave this place."

Setia nodded, but didn't speak. She took to the air, but stayed low in order to fly through the large wooden doors that Ruin, her bonded, held open for her.

"Soon," Ruin whispered, extinguishing the last torch in the room, "very soon."

_**Here I wanna be**_

_**No more lies!**_

_**Deep within me**_

_**Life's crawling and wasting my days**_

_**Another night gone and I know there will be another way**_

_**I'm leading myself to be free**_

_**In this eternal goodbye**_


	5. Blue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series, or the song "Blue", they belong to Rachel Roberts and The Birthday Massacre respectively.**

* * *

_**Plastic blue invitations in my room**_

_**I've been waiting here for you**_

_**Reservations made for two**_

_**Sunlight fading**_

Ruin leaned over a ancient spellbook, meticulously studying its contents. He was seated at a large oak table in the middle of a library-- The library in the Garden. The light was dim due to the quickly setting sun, and Ruin knew he had to decipher the meaning of this one spell before he would allow himself to leave. Setia was perched on the back of the chair across from him, examining her gray wings. Her black claws dug into the wood, leaving marks that the librarian would notice.

"Setia," He whispered, careful not to let the old elf at the front desk hear. The gargoyle looked up at him, her yellow eyes meeting his blue ones. "Don't do that." He pointed to her sharp, curved claws. Setia loosened her grip and looked embarrassed. "That's a good girl," He said and reached over to pat her head. The gray creature purred in contentment and Ruin copied the spell into his notebook. He looked down at it disapprovingly-- The language was an ancient fairy dialect, he knew that, but his limited knowledge of the language prevented him from understanding the exact words. He did, however, know what the spell was for.

_**Black tongues speak faster than the car can crash**_

_**You supply the rumors and I'll provide the wrath**_

_**Romance is breaking every heart in two**_

_**Casting shadows in a pale shade of blue**_

Ruin closed the brown, leather-bound book and replaced on the shelf where he had found it. This library was invaluable, he noted, remembering to keep this place standing when he succeeded in taking over this part of Aldenmor. He placed an arm towards Setia, who flapped her wings once and landed gracefully on his arm, careful this time as to how hard she gripped her perch. The blond-haired man walked to front desk and smiled at the librarian, who was also blonde, but her long, thin hair was streaked with gray. She looked up from her book and gave him a small smile as well, and handed him the sign-out binder. Ruin quickly scribbled his false name and said a quiet "Good evening," to the elf. She continued to read.

_**Plastic blue conversations in my room**_

_**Saving every tear for you**_

_**Trusting every word untrue**_

_**Twilight fading**_

Emily sat on her bed, copying definitions from a textbook. Her long, curly red hair was thrown up in a messy ponytail, a few wild strands framing her face. She felt a cool breeze glide over to her, and she looked up, confused. Her window was closed, how is there a breeze?

The Healer rose from her bed, but as soon as she did, her legs collapsed under her. She heard whispers in the back of her mind, but before she could make them out, or even wonder what they were, the unbearable headache she had yesterday attacked her. She clutched her head in agony and resisted the urge to cry out as another vision flung her into its realm.

_**Fate changes faster than the death of light**_

_**You supply the envy and I'll provide the spite**_

_**Reflections cutting every face in two**_

**_Casting shadows in a pale shade of blue_**

_

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_

I'm sorry this chapter is so short and everything's way off schedule. I don't really have any excuse, other than laziness (except midterms are coming up, and I'm trying to raise my grades before the quarter ends, so maybe that's an excuse?). I hope the next chapter will be on time.

--Rainpath


	6. It's The Fear

**I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series or the song "It's The Fear", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Within Temptation respectively.**

* * *

_**It waits for the day, I will let it out  
To give it a reason, to give it its might**_

Emily felt her head was going to split open-- In fact, she hoped it would, the pain was so incredible-- when suddenly, she actually _felt_ her surroundings change and opened her eyes once the headache once again faded to a dull throbbing.

She seemed to be in a strange, white marble parlor room. She tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear and gently laid her hand on a small oak side table to catch her breath and evaluate her situation. The huge, white and gold decorated room was deathly silent, and when the redhaired healer took a step forward, her footsteps echoed so loudly that she flinched and looked around frantically, like a rabbit caught in a predator's stare, for a place to hide. Should the need arise, she wanted to be sure that whoever--or whatever-- lived here didn't know that she was there.

_**I fear who I am becoming,  
I feel that I am losing the struggle within  
I can no longer restrain it,  
My strength, it is fading  
I have to give in**_

When she was sure that no one was running to the parlor to attack her, Emily took another tentative step out of the room and into a similarly decorated corridor.

Someone screamed.

Emily's head jerked up, and she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from making any noise herself. The shrill sound came again, from behind her. Emily turned, stepping quietly and trying to stay in the shadows. She was vaguely aware that this was all happening in her mind, and no one was actually screaming, and if someone caught her, she'd probably just wake up in her bedroom.

I'm crazy, Emily thought. It was the only explanation she could come up with, right now.

_**  
It's the fear  
The fear of the dark  
Its growing inside of me  
They won, they will come to life  
Have to save  
Save my beloved  
There is no escape  
Because my fate is horror and doom**_

Emily tip-toed down the expansive hallway until she came to a medieval-looking wood and iron door, which looked out of place in the early twentieth century-designed palace. She placed a hand on it, leaning her slight weight against it as she held her ear to the wood. Much to her surprise, she fell _right through_ the door! Her entire body passed through the object, as if she were a ghost.

**_Hold down your head now  
Just let me pass by  
Don't feed my fear  
If you don't want it out_**

The Healer fell, but threw her hands in front of her to keep herself from getting hurt. She stood again, and gasped.

She was in another room, obviously, but this one was very, very different from the other ones in the palace. Instead of walls and floor made of marble, This room was a natural rock cave, with a glowing seeing pool in the middle. A tall, blond man in dark blue wizards' robes stood directly across from her on the other side of the pool. But what had really surprised Emily was the figure standing defiantly next to him. It was _her_. 

_**I fear who I am becoming,  
I feel that I'm losing all beauty within  
I can no longer restrain it  
My strength, it is fading  
I have to give in**_

Her curly red hair was pulled back, and a look of angry seriousness was fixed on her face. She wore a pair of light-colored blue jeans and a black t-shirt, both covered with dirt and grime. The rainbow jewel at her wrist pulsed softly, radiating red, orange, and dull yellow-green--Reflecting her emotions, she guessed, and the Black Fire sickness. But upon closer inspection, Emily realized that sparks of blue, purple, and silver magic would occasionally dart across the jewel's surface, signaling that powerful Water magic was still with her, and so was Indy.

Strangely, neither figure seemed to notice her. Both just stared into the pool, which kept changing from yellow, to pink, to blue. The man turned to Emily's other self. 

_**It's the fear,  
The fear of the dark  
It's growing inside of me  
They won, they will come to life  
Have to save  
Save my beloved  
There is no escape  
Because my fate is horror and doom**_

"Help me," He said simply.

The girl looked up at him and stared him directly in the eyes. "No," she replied, equally as simple. Emily was amazed at her other self's confidence-- The Healer was usually the shy, quiet one.

"Look at what you can do! You've even done it before! You could control the entire ocean!"

Emily flinched, remembering the horrible time when the Dark Sorceress had used her power to steal the magic from the Water creatures, but her other self's face didn't betray any emotion.

"The balance would be off." She stated, and walked around the edge of the pool, waving a hand over the water so that it returned to a normal, clear liquid. She looked at the door, and at Emily. She almost smirked. "Goodbye, Ruin."

**_Long ago, it came to me  
And ever since that day  
Infected with it's rage  
But it ends today_**

The man she had called Ruin glanced at her as well, but apparently didn't see what the girl had. He raised his voice slightly, to make sure she heard him as she walked away.

"I tried to give you the power to see the future. I thought that would convince you!"

This time, the other Emily did smile. "Guess it didn't work." With that, the giant door shut with a heavy _thud_, and Emily was pulled from the vision and back into her own body, in her own room.

**_It's the fear  
The fear of the dark  
Its growing inside of me  
They won, they will come to life  
Have to save,  
Save my beloved,  
There is no escape  
Because my fate is horror and doom_**

**

* * *

****I've finally updated! I'm on Winter Break, so expect a few more updates this week. I'm trying to catch up with this story.**

**--Rainpath**


	7. Good Vibes, Bad Vibes

**Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series, or the song "Good Vibes, Bad Vibes" , they belong to Rachel Roberts and Liv Kristine respectively.**

* * *

_**Good vibes, bad vibes dance on the ocean**_

_**Man-made insanity's holding me down**_

_**Good vibes, bad vibes, a way of locomotion**_

_**I can show you, show you all around**_

Emily finally finished her English essay and clicked the "print" icon on the top left corner of the computer screen. As the printer spit out one and a half pages of black typing comparing and contrasting both a book and a poem her class had finished recently, she thought about this strange new ability she had undoubtedly acquired. She had decided to tell the other mages about her visions, hoping that they would contact the fairimentals to see if they had any insight on the situation. She was anxious about that, though, because her last vision still unnerved her, and she knew that whatever was to come would be dangerous. The Healer noticed hat the printer had stopped, and picked up the two sheets of paper from the machine and placed them neatly in her folder, which was, in turn, stuffed into her green backpack.

_**Blue light, red light, drink a magic potion**_

_**One-track eternity's making me frown**_

_**Blue light, red light, bittersweet emotion**_

_**Won't you send me way up to the underground?**_

The next day at school, Emily walked into her seventh period class, History. It was the only class that she had with the other two mages. Kara and Adriane were already sitting on the right side of the room, talking carelessly in a way that showed the redhead that they weren't talking about anything magical. Kara smiled at her when she joined them.

"Meeting," she whispered. "At Ravenswood. Right after school." Emily hoped that her hazel eyes didn't show any of the nervousness she was feeling about sharing her visions with the other girls.

Kara's blue eyes, however, betrayed her own concern for her friend. "Must be important," she said, her voice still a normal tone, but slightly lower than it had been before. Emily nodded at her comment and took her homework from her folder as the teacher walked in.

_**Hold tight, uptight, waiting for the sunlight**_

_**All my enemies are watching me drown**_

_**Hold tight, uptight, I'm in the wrong side**_

_**I'm on campsite waiting on a silver cloud**_

When the final bell rang for dismissal, Emily, Adriane, and Kara met up at the front doors once all the buses had left. There were still quite a few kids roaming the halls and school grounds, either participating in extracurricular programs or wandering around of their own accord. Stonehill was a very small town, and Ravenswood wasn't far away, so the girls usually walked when they needed to be at the preserve. Even though it was bitterly cold, they had decided that walking was a better choice than going through the hassle of trying to convince the bus driver to drop them off at stops that were not their own. As the mages walked down the street, Emily began to tell her story.

_**Good vibes, bad vibes dance on the ocean**_

_**Man-made insanity's holding me down**_

_**Good vibes, bad vibes, way of locomotion**_

_**I can show you, show you all around**_

**

* * *

****Yeah, I know, it's a short, crappy, filler chapter. But I'm kind of at a loss about what to do next. Maybe next chapter'll be better :/**

**--Rainpath**


	8. The Loon

**Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series, or the song "The Loon", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Aesma Daeva respectively.**

* * *

_**Upon the lake, upon the windless water  
Swim down to me, beautiful bird  
Mercy, stay not forever out of reach  
I hear, I hear your evening song  
Strange alien song**_

Ruin placed several colorless crystals on the stone table in front of him. He was in the magic room again, the only room in the palace he had inherited from his noble fairy aunt that was not furnished in expensive white marble, elegant furniture, and rare paintings. He smiled to himself as he thought of his own kind, fairies--The ones at the court were silly creatures, always fighting amongst each other and the other courts (which, he noted, was good for him as it would allow him to take over while the royals were busy with their stupid quarrels). However, there were fairy societies here on Aldenmor, though they tended to be distant from the court and very critical of monarchies. Ruin's aunt had been a very isolated woman, preferring to be with her spellbooks and bonded pegasus than with other creatures. Ruin had been her favorite nephew, what with the two being very similar in nature and their never-ending desire to learn all they could. __

Watered in blood in which I sink and drown  
In flesh and by shackled flora-bound,  
Feed the ache of this exile's alien song.  
I hear, I hear your evening song

The sorcerer brought his thoughts away from his beloved aunt and other fairies to carefully place the crystals in various designs, copied from an ancient, leather-bound, yellow-paged book. The spell was simple, written in modern Aquatanian, and would serve his purposes quite well. As Ruin said the watery, ocean-like words, he noticed with satisfaction that the crystals began glow softly, emitting a pale, white glow to help out the failing candle in the otherwise dark room. Ruin placed the final gem, a small, lackluster amethyst, and waited. ___**Unchain me  
Mercy, don't abandon me**_

Spirit bird, unbind my withered limbs  
And cut me from this torment

The faint glow gradually grew to cover the stone walls of the room with its warm light. Violet and white energy pulsed from the crystals, mixing and sparking. Ruin watched with curious eyes, and was delighted when the magic settled down and the crystals disintegrated to a fine powder. The sorcerer reached out a hand and brushed the powder from the table into a small velvet bag, leaving behind some of the glittering dust.

_**  
Arrayed in pearl, blushing illuminate deep wounds  
Vast seas that rack and crash  
Moonlight upon my throat**_

_**Tempest black**_

"_More, Ruin?" _Setia asked in his head. She had remained deadly silent while he was doing this, perched behind him on a particularly rocky part of the wall. Ruin turned and held the bag out to her. The gargoyle snatched it with an outstretched claw and tied the tiny golden ropes to her wrist, with Ruin's help.

"Yes, Setia. Emily must continue to get the visions, she is crucial to my plan."

_**  
Mercy, stay not forever  
I suffer your endless song  
Here I choke**_

Emily, Adriane, Kara, and a few magical animals sat in the tiny living room of the cottage, talking about Emily's visions. Adriane and Emily were discussing who this "Ruin" might be, when Kara suddenly became very quiet as she stroked Lyra's spotted fur. The cat turned her understanding green eyes on her bonded, waiting for her to say something.

**_Replume, refire, ravage my unholy ghost  
My heavenly mate, burning bright  
Bloat and cry out, flame in the infinite  
For all the world is spirit furnace_**

"Do you know where you were?"

Both of the other mages stopped speaking. Emily thought for a moment, straining her mind to remember what the mansion in the dream-like sequence had looked like, but she shook her head. "There were no windows, not any that I could see, anyway."

Ozzie suddenly jumped up excitedly. "There was a giant palace like that deep in the woods of Farthingdale! It belonged--and may still belong--to a lone fairy woman by the name of Dormarie."

Emily glanced at him. "The person I saw in the vision was a man," she said.

Ozzie's eyes sparkled. "My cousin once did a small job for many years ago--She had a nephew."

_**Old age, my god, love, and white this blizzard night  
All songs strangle under ice, flame out, and die  
Forsaken evermore; linger frozen everlasting song**_

**

* * *

****There you go... The newest chapter of "Cassandra"! I really need to update this more often if I want to finish it on time...**


	9. Fairyland

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic series, nor do I own the song "Fairyland". They belong to Rachel Roberts and Angelzoom respectively.**

* * *

_**Colder than ice**_

_**The world falls apart**_

_**Cold like a stone**_

_**The spell on the souls**_

_**Colder than ice**_

_**Your hand on my heart**_

_**A world made of stone**_

_**Let tenderness freeze**_

Emily pulled on a coil of her long red hair as she sat in class, bored. Her mind was definitely elsewhere. She was thinking about what would happen today after school, when she and the two other mages would be at Ravenswood. She could not take the terrifying visions any longer. The nightmares claimed her sleep, if she could get to sleep at all, and the lack of rest was beginning to show in her everyday life. She knew her mother was starting to worry. Sometimes, the visions were about her, and other times they were about her friends, and still other times they were about strangers or animals on Aldenmor, even one premonition showed her the Dark Sorceress. The common theme throughout these visions, though, was the pain, fear, hate, and a myriad of other negative emotions. The Healer now knew that her visions were caused by a fairy named Ruin, who had once been called Rolan Solas (Ozzie's cousin possessed an impeccable memory, he had told them proudly). The girls and their bondeds, plus Ozzie, were planning on going o Aldenmor-- not to fight none of the mages thought they were ready for that yet-- but just to scout the grounds around the palace and talk with the Fairimentals.

_**Save the fairyland we live in**_

_**Where all failings are forgiven**_

_**Feel like hunted by a griffin**_

_**I fall down, straight down**_

_**Save the fairyland we live in**_

_**Where my failings are forgiven**_

_**Feel like hunted by a griffin**_

_**I'm falling straight down**_

"Rolan Solas was a very well-adjusted child," Gwigg informed them, a bit taken aback that the mages thought he was behind the visions. "Are you sure these visions aren't just your magic evolving?"

Emily was sure. "My magic is gentle and...watery. This magic was aggressive and had no elemental touch to it."

Ambia spoke up next. "Gwigg, we can trust Emily's judgement. Marina taught you to read elements, did she not?"

Emily nodded. Marina had thought that she, as the Healer, would be the most sensitive to elements and the emotions that so often came with that kind of magic. The Water Fairimental taught her how to deal with those emotions and channel it to use for herself. Ambia smiled, her iridescent form just barely visible against the clouds and light blue sky.

_**Catch my daydream**_

_**Catch my fall**_

_**Colder than ice**_

_**Night all around**_

_**Cold like a stone**_

_**Te heart of success**_

_**Wasteland of ice**_

_**We fall to the ground**_

_**A world made of stone**_

_**Let tenderness freeze**_

"If you didn't sense any elemental magic, then there probably wasn't any." The Air Fairimental then turned to Adriane, Kara, Lyra, Ozzie, and Dreamer. "You wanted to go to the palace and scout the grounds?"

They nodded.

Gwigg and Ambia exchanged glances.

"We don't think that's the best idea," Gwigg said carefully. "Rolan is the nephew of a deceased, but still highly respected member of the fairy nobility. Queen Selinda would not want Fairimental-appointed mages meddling in her business."

Kara opened her mouth to protest, but Ambia spoke sooner. "We know that you girls have a good relationship with all the courts, but this is beyond magic. It's silly royal conduct."

Emily looked unsure. "But--"

"We have our own ways of stopping Rolan. Don't worry, you won't have to suffer these horrid visions for much longer. Let us do the work," Ambia attempted to reassure her.

The Healer glanced back at her friends, but didn't say anything else.

_**Save the fairyland we live in**_

_**Where all failings are forgiven**_

_**Feel like hunted by a griffin**_

_**I fall down, straight down**_

_**Save the fairyland we live in**_

_**Where my failings are forgiven**_

_**Feel like hunted by a griffin**_

_**I'm falling straight down**_

Emily felt betrayal and anger bubble up inside her at the abrupt dismissal and apparent uncaring of the Fairimentals. They had no _idea_ what these visions were like! The unbearable pain and horrifying images that kept her up some nights. As the girls and their bondeds left the Fairy Glade, she still didn't feel right about leaving before at least seeing the mansion. When she was sure there weren't any Fairimentals around to hear her, she told the others that they should go anyway. Adriane and Kara, for once, were in agreement.

"Oh, no, no, no," Ozzie narrowed his eyes. "That's a _very_ bad idea. That's--"

Emily snatched up the ferret and began to walk in the direction of Farthingdale.

_"There's a portal right outside the Glade,"_ Dreamer reminded them.

The group soon saw the silver-framed mirror, intended to distract curious travellers from finding the Glade. Emily walked up to the controls and figured out how to sen them all to their destination. The normally calm mage smiled in satisfaction, determined to free herself from Ruin's influence.

_**Falling down, falling down**_

_**Catch me**_

_**When I'm falling down**_

_**Please come to me...**_

Ruin rested in an antique, overstuffed chair, eyes closed. Setia, ever-present, perched lazily on a wooden bar intended for her. The tiny gargoyle's eyes shifted everywhere--alertness was in her nature. Something did not seem right to her. Something was coming, and it would not be good. Ruin, sensing his bonded's distress, opened his eyes and walked over to her. As he came closer and closer, the gargoyle became more and more uneasy. When he lifted a hand to stroke her head, Setia let out a strangled sort of cry, before giving her bonded a distrustful glance and batting away his hands with her strong wings as she took flight.

No, something was definitely wrong. Something was definitely wrong with _him_.

_**Save the fairyland we live in**_

_**Where all failings are forgiven**_

_**Feel like hunted by a griffin**_

_**I fall down, straight down**_

_**Save the fairyland we live in**_

_**Where my failings are forgiven**_

_**Feel like hunted by a griffin**_

_**I'm falling straight down**_


	10. Ragdoll Physics

**Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Ma****g****ic/Quest for Magic" series or the song "Ragdoll Physics". They belong to Rachel Roberts and Diablo Swing Orchestra respectively.**

* * *

_**Pure as the unborn son**_

_**Pure as the maid should be**_

_**Ceased to breathe again**_

_**Never look away from those with nothing to spare**_

Emily and the gorup landed in a thickly forested area, through a mirror disguised by a plain wooden frame covered in dark green leaves and vines. The portal was set into a large, ancient Sequoia tree, which the mages and animals had been scattered a few feet away from.

"All here?" She heard Kara call out.

A chorus of "yeahs" followed, and the group found each other to come up with a plan about what to do next.

"How do we find this place?" Adriane asked.

Kara and Emily shrugged. They all looked to Ozzie for help. The golden-brown ferret's eyes widened.

_**But I do and I don't want to care anymore**_

_**If I close my eyes, would it spare me the sight**_

_**Of decay, corruption, how we nurture destruction**_

_**And everything that will doom us all**_

"This was _your_ idea," He said defensively.

"_You at least know where Farthingdale is_," Lyra said.

Ozzie sighed. "Oh all right," he muttered. "I really do give in too easily."

The elf-turned-ferret looked aroud him, eyes narrowed. He scampered off in one direction, sniffed, then darted in another. "This way." He called over his shoulder. The mages and other animals followed his swiftly disappearing form deeper into the unfamiliar woods.

The group trudged through fallen leaves and muddy patches for about two hours. Finally, a small clearing could be seen up ahead. Emily recognized the tiny farmhouse as the one Velma lived in, the tiny elf toddler she had healed of the black fire sickness two years ago. The Healer shivered at the thought of another enemy, perhaps as powerful as the sorceress herself, controlling her through premonitions. She shook her head to rid herself of these thoughts and followed the group into the little villge of Farthingdale.

_**Chaos may be thy name, you left us for anything**_

_**Trust never been so misplaced**_

_**As in your arms that day, those that you gave away**_

_**To those who could ease your mind**_

_**We were nothing but a waste of your time and space**_

Ozzie's cousin. Brommy, and his wife, Alla, welcomed the group excitedly. Brommy and Alla wanted to ask the mages about their recent adventures, but Ozzie insisted that they keep to the task at hand. Brommy told them all that he had remembered of the one small job at mansion, and offered to lead them to it. Thr group considered, but in the end, it was decided that it was too dangerous, just in case they were caught. Instead, they settled for meticulous instructions on how to get there.

"You all set?" Alla asked. Emily glanced at her friends, who nodded.

_**But I do and I don't want to care anymore**_

_**If I close my eyes, would it spare me the sight**_

_**Of decay, corruption, how we nurture destruction**_

_**And everything that will doom us all**_

The group set out west, armed with clear directions, through a space of forest until they found a narrow trail. The trail spread out in many different directions, like tree branches, but the group knew where they were going, thankfully. Eventually, they spotted a moderately large mansion, perhaps the size of Ravenswood Manor, ahead of them. There was an unkempt garden in the front yard-- neglected juniper bushes, winding vines on the white limestone walls and dark windows, wildflowers and weeds growing beside tulips and rosebushes. The mages and magical animals veered off the path and into the forest, hoping to avoid detection by staying under the cover of the large oak and sycamore trees. The mages crept forward, the animals beind them. Quietly, Adriane instructed Dreamer to turn to mist. The wolf obeyed, and his form evanesced to a thin, white fog. The girls let their jewels go quiet and cold, just in case Ruin could sense magic. Too much would alert him. As the group inched across the brown-patched lawn, they heard loud, angry noises from within the mansion, cursing, and then a _thud_. Suddenly, a bright green light flashed in the top right window. Startled, Dreamer's cover began to dissipate, leaving the group exposed on the front lawn, in plain sight.

_**But I do and I don't want to care anymore**_

_**If I cloe my eyes, would it spare me the sight**_

_**Of decay, corruption, how we nurture destruction **_

_**And everything that will doom us all**_

* * *

**Meh. It's kind of short, but whatever.**


	11. Castle Down

****

Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series, or the song "Castle Down", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Emilie Autumn respectively.

* * *

_**You can see that I swim  
Through the sea of painful  
You have watched as I pull  
Myself from the floor  
And you were there when I  
Built my tower like pebbles in the rain  
Trying to balance all that I had left  
With what I didn't have anymore**_

Dreamer transformed bck into his solid form, his front paws landing on the ground before the rest of his body had even reappeared. He looked guiltily at his pack-mate, who pressed him close to her side comfortingly. Lyra bounded away from the group, across the expansive, exposed lawn, and into the garden. She turned frantically, motioning for the rest to follow her lead. Deciding that if they had already been spotted, then taking any cover would be useless, and if they hadn't, they should run before they are, the group sprinted towards Lyra and the garden. Thankfully, no evil manticore or orc came out to annihilate them.

_**And would you tear my castle down  
Stone by stone  
And let the wind run through my windows  
'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose  
And would you tear my castle down  
Stone by stone  
And let the wind run through my windows  
'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose**_

Emily sighed. "How do we get in?" She whispered. Kara and Adriane glanced at each other helplessly. Lyra jumped to her paws and stood perfectly still while her sparkling golden wings grew from her shoulders. Kara whispered furiously to her bonded, but the leopard ignored her. Instead, she lifted herself up into the sky, wings flaaping slowly and gracefully. She flew to the limestone wall of the palace, careful to avoid any windows. She levitated higher and higher until sh had positioned herself above the roof. She landed silently, and her wings disappeared again. Lyra walked on the roof, investigating various nooks and crannies, until sh could not be seen by the rest of the group.

_**You seem so devoted  
Your love is unconditional  
You were self-promoted  
I never asked you  
You were my everything  
My apparitional faith  
Where are you when I am screaming to my God  
What am I coming to?**_

Emily looked t her friends. She felt a horrible headache coming on-- not quite as horrible as the ones that preceded the visions, but painful enough that the Healer assumed that it had something to do with her being close to the source of her misery. She shivered and placed two fingers to her temple, muttering something incoherent about Advil. Kara stared at the roof, squinting against the quickly fading sun. Aldenmor's twin moons were rising in the sky, and the world far behind them was already coated in darkness.

_**And would you tear my castle down  
Stone by stone  
And let the wind run through my windows  
'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose  
And would you tear my castle down  
Stone by stone  
And let the wind run through my windows  
'Til there is nothing left but a battered rose**_

The blazing star's blue eyes finally spotted a leopard picking her way over the crest of the roof. The cat's wings appeared once agin, and she took flight. In a matter of seconds, Lyra was telling them about a small room she had found when she climbed down the chimney ("Santa would be proud," Kara had remarked sarcastically) and scouted inside the mansion. According to Lyra, the small room emanted magic, and the scent of something vaguely similair to the Black Fire was undeniably strong.

_**'Til there is nothing, nothing left  
'Til there is nothing, nothing left  
'Til there is nothing left  
Would you tear my castle down?  
Would you tear my castle down?  
Would you tear my castle down?**_

* * *

**Short chapters suck.**


	12. Lost Soul

**Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series, or the song "Lost Soul", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Elis respectively.**

* * *

_**He took my soul (took my soul)**_

_**In his hands**_

_**My mind got dark (my mind got dark)**_

_**In his hands**_

"We have to get in there," Adriane said determinedly.

"Are you crazy?!" Kara whisper-shrieked. "We came here to scout. We scouted, now it's up to the Fairimentals to figure out the rest. We can't risk getting caught."

"Do you honestly think that the Fairimentals are going to do anything?" Emily asked in an uncharacteristically harsh tone. "The best they can do is ask Queen Selinda to monitor Ruin--And with all that's been going on in the Fairy Realms lately, I don't think she has the time, energy, or ability to do something like that. I agree with Adriane. We should get in there and take Ruin _down_. I can't live with these visions any longer."

"Am I the only sane one here?" Kara looked desperately to the animals, hoping for some support from them. Dreamer looked at the ground, keeping silent and pawing at the dirt shyly. Ozzie glanced at all three mages, though it was obvious from his body language that he sided with Kara. Lyra, in a rare display of difference of opinion to her bonded, told the Blazing Star that it was better to catch Ruin off-guard.

_**When did I begin to follow the shadows?**_

_**They fill my dreams with pain and darkness**_

_**When did I begin to feel the sorrows?**_

_**Then I laid my soul into your hands**_

The blonde sighed, defeated. "We at least need a plan. We can't go barging in there unprepared; Ruin would slaughter us without a second thought. Any ideas?"

Emily pointed to the large, dark windows on the side of the building. "Maybe we could get through those," she suggested, her former anger replaced with her usual demure attitude.

"How do we get them open? How do we know they're not guarded or trapped?" Kara countered, still certain that she did _not_ want to do this.

Adriane looked at Dreamer. "Could you pass under one of those windows if it's open in mist form and it open the rest of the way from the inside?" She asked the black wolf.

_**He said sweet words (said sweet words)**_

_**With his voice, he seduced me softly**_

_**With his voice**_

Dreamer looked questioningly to the window farthest from them, the one that looked to be the most isolated, then back at her.

"Umm, hello? How are _we_ going to get up there? We can't fly, you know," Kara stated sarcastically.

"_I can_," Lyra reminded her.

"You can't hold our weight, even if you just took us one at a time. You'd break your back."

All of the mages and animals seemed to be stumped by this little setback. Then, Ozzie pointed out the window on the first floor, which was low enough that they could climb right through if it was open.

"We could get in that way," He said. "It would probably be more dangerous, though--The room's more likely to be used often than the one on the top floor."

_**When did I begin to follow the shadows?**_

_**They fill my dreams with pain and sadness**_

_**When did I begin to feel the sorrows?**_

_**Then I laid my soul into your hands**_

"Good thinking, Ozzie," Emily hugged the little ferret affectionately. Dreamer closed his liquid emerald green eyes and let his body dissipate into mist, and the barely-detectable fog slowly approached the low window. As he peered inside, the wolf could see a giant oak table and chairs, but they looked like they hadn't been touched in months. The mistwolf passed under the tiny crack in the window and, making sure there was no one else around, transformed back into his solid form.

_**Once times were not so dark**_

_**But then the shadows took hold of my soul**_

_**Since then I feel my mind's lost in madness**_

Emily stared anxiously at the side of the building, craning her neck to get a better look. Her stomach twisted into knots and her throat went dry as she watched intently as Dreamer returned to his wolf form and began to sniff around. The Healer couldn't see him after a while, because the sun had set so low now that only a sliver of golden orange light peeked above the trees. She glanced to her left, where Adriane was grasping her tiger's eye with all of her might, trying to get in contact with her bonded. She tried to smile reassuringly at her, but was afraid her own worry was too much to mask. Emily shivered, as the sun finally dropped from view and they were plunged into the night.

_**Lost my soul in the dark**_

_**Lost my mind in the dark**_


	13. Spellbound

**Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series or the song "Spellbound", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Lacuna Coil respectively.**

**So, this story is going to be 15 chapters instead of 20. Because I said so.**

**Oh, and check out the song in this chapter, it's Lacuna Coil's first single off their new album _Shallow Life_,and it's really addicting. Great song.**

* * *

_**Burning here, in the room**_

_**Feeling that the walls are moving closer**_

_**Silent scene, the dark takes me**_

_**Leads me to the ending of another day**_

_**I'm haunted**_

Emily held her breath, biting her bottom lip to keep from whimpering with anxiety. Dreamer had finally gotten the window open as far as he could (not having opposable thumbs made some things difficult), and the rest of the group was now at the ground level window, going through one at a time. Ozzie and Adriane were already in, keeping guard at the dining room's door, making sure that no one noticed the rest of them. Lyra jumped through the tiny space with relative ease, and then Kara smiled at the Healer and followed her bonded. Emily waited until the Blazing Star landed on the other side of the window with a muffled "_oof_", and then swung her leg over the windowsill and climbed in after her blonde friend.

_**Tell me who you are**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**You cannot have this control on me**_

_**Everywhere I go**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**I will break the spell you put on me**_

The emotions hit her like a wave as soon as she crossed over into the mansion.

She grabbed onto the windowsill again to keep from falling over. Her eyes began to lose focus and cloud over with black. She dropped to her knees, holding her had in her hands. Kara rushed over, placing a hand on her friend's back. Ozzie weaved worriedly around her.

"Em? Are you alright?" Kara asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Adriane shot them all a furtive glance, but quickly turned back to watching the door.

"I'm fine," Emily said, her eyes still tightly squeezed shut. Images flashed in front of her eyes faster than the blink of an eye. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and her vision came back.

_**Velvet drapes, glowing candles**_

_**Silent whispers of words inside of my head**_

_**The night that comes, it waits for me**_

_**Lift me to the ending of another day**_

_**I'm haunted**_

"Come on," Kara said, holding out her hand. Emily grabbed it, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "Let's find Ruin." She nodded to Adriane, who took Dreamer and darted out of the door, making sure that they still had the advantage of surprise. Lyra, Kara, Emily, and Ozzie followed the Warrior and her wolf out into the corridor. The group stealthily snuck through the mansion, Dreamer in the lead, given his gift for magic tracking. Emily vaguely remembered some rooms and hallways from her visions, but it felt like deja vu. They passed the large parlor room, and the Healer signaled for them to stop. The group looked at her questioningly, waiting for her to speak.

_**Tell me who you are**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**You cannot have this control on me**_

_**Everywhere I go**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**I will break the spell you put on me**_

The redhead tapped her healing stone. "_I know where we are_," Emily said telepathically. Her friends glanced at one another, but allowed her to continue. "_Ruin's sorcery room is just ahead of here. Lyra, I know you know what I'm talking about._"

The leopard nodded. "_We should ambush him while we still--_"

The big cat was cut off, however, by a loud stomping coming down the corridor. The group scattered into the parlor, but that room was mostly open. They were exposed and unprepared to fight, with Ruin coming into the room in a matter of seconds. Adriane and Kara drew their magic to the surface of their jewels, knowing that they would not go quietly. A black boot crossed the threshold from the hallway into the parlor, and the room exploded with light.

_**(Break the spell)**_

Ruin fought back with his own green-silver magic, protecting himself with a shield of the magic. When the Warrior and Blazing Star's attack faded, he stepped away from the smoking remains of an old chair and laughed. It was an unpleasant sound, filled with gloating and condescending.

"Really, girls?" He asked. Out of nowhere, five orc guards filed into the room and began to restrain the girls and the animals. Emily shrank back, wishing once again she could attack her magic. An orc had cornered her, and finally grabbed a handful of her curly hair in his giant fist. His other hand reached for her wrist, covering her gem. She saw a flash of gold magic out of the corner of her eye, and strained her neck just enough to see another orc twist Adriane's arms behind her back and let her body hang limply. With the way the orc had trapped her, Emily couldn't turn her head to her right and see Kara or Dreamer. Lyra,who was in front of her, managed to hold off her opponent for an admirable amount of time, snarling and snapping with her razor-sharp fangs.

_**Tell me who you are**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**You cannot have this control on me**_

_**Everywhere I go**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**I will break the spell you put on me**_

"Emily, dear," Ruin strode across the room towards the mage. He signaled to the orc to drop her. "I've been waiting for you. Take them away," The sorcerer told the other orcs, one of whom, Emily noticed, was holding both Kara and Ozzie.

"Come. Walk with me," Ruin motioned for Emily to follow him. She cast an uncertain look in the remaining orc's direction, and decided it would be better to follow him than risk being attacked by the huge creature. The redhaired mage walked beside the sorcerer in silence, save for the squeaking of her old, beat-up grey and white sneakers on the magnificent, expensive tile floor. She couldn't help but think that was at least a little bit funny.

_**(Everywhere I go)**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**(Everywhere I go)**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**(Everywhere I go)**_

_**I am spellbound**_

_**I will break the spell you put on me**_


	14. Blackheart

**Disclaimer: I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series or the song "Blackheart", they belong to Rachel Roberts and Darkwell respectively.**

**Happy Day of Silence, everyone.**

* * *

_**All my desire are the flames of the eternal fire  
Strange winds of time killed the flames blew out all that was mine**_

Ruin led her to the sorcery room, and Emily was shocked as she realized what was happening. Everything was placed just as it had been in one of her visions! She glanced at the doorway but then remembered that she had been here in her vision just as her real self had been leaving. She halted just inside of the dark cave, and Ruin calmly lit a couple of wall scones and the white candles placed in the corners of the room for extra light. The sorcerer turned to her after a few moments of silence that seemed to last hours. He looked straight into her hazel eyes with his green ones. He did not talk for a few more moments after that, and seemed to be studying her, trying to figure out what was the best way to start a conversation that would most likely end badly. The Healer mage as beginning to grow impatient.

_**  
My heart was  
My soul was  
Never-ending source  
of devotion  
And spirits**_

"Can you say something?" She snapped, crossing her arms across her chest.

Ruin's eyes seemed to flash, but it could have just been the flickering candlelight tricking her own eyes. The sorcerer laughed, as much of an unpleasant sound as it had been before. "You have no authority here, girl. I do. Your friends are my prisoners now."

_**All my desire are the flames of the eternal fire  
Strange winds of time killed the flames blew out all that was mine**_

Ruin glared at her again, and any trace of the former lighthearted facade vanished. "I need you for the next part of my plan, but you must do it willingly or it will not work. Damn fairy magic, but those are the conditions."

"And I say no?" Emily asked, thinking that it would be incredibly easy for her to just say no and get out of there.

"There's a reason I took your friends prisoner," The sorcerer replied, a hint of humor in his voice. Emily's wrinkled her nose at his sneering tone.

_**  
His heart was  
His soul was  
Impending doom  
Of desperation  
And submission  
Undying bloom  
All that I tried to reach  
An immortal bond  
In the end it fades away**_

"Leave them alone," she growled.

"They'll be unharmed if you cooperate, dearest." Ruin smoothed back his blonde hair. "Now, will you help me?"

Emily weighed her options. She couldn't attack him; he'd just call the orcs and he'd still get what he wanted, one way or another. She sighed.

"What do you want me to do?"

Ruin grinned widely at his apparent victory. "Good choice, Ms. Fletcher. Come here."

Emily crossed the cave-room, glancing at the seeing pool as she walked around it. It wasn't boiling with color as it had been in her vision, and the Healer wondered when, or _if_, her premonition would come to pass.

_**All my desire are the flames of the eternal fire  
Strange winds of time killed the flames blew out all that was mine**_

"Emily," Ruin called, breaking her from her thoughts. She lifted her head from string into the water and noticed that he was looking at her strangely-- a combination of confusion and... _Fear_? What did Ruin have to be scared of her for? The redheaded Healer walked closer to the sorcerer.

"What?" She asked, somehow keeping the tremble from her voice. Ruin told her to hold out her hands, something clasped in his own. He opened his palms and poured a fine, bright red sand into her hands.

**_All my trust  
All my pain  
Wasted hopes  
Never  
Will I hunger  
For this again  
Take this curse from me  
Let me walk alone  
In the end all fades away_**

"What is this for?" She asked.

"Hold on," He replied, seemingly distracted as he searched the surface of his oak table for something. Papers with ancient writings fluttered to the floor, and various magic talismans were shoved tro the side. He reached out a hand, and picked up what he was apparently looking for. He placed a clear, uncut quartz crystal on top of the sand. "Wait."

Emily waited. As she stared at the crystal, it began to emit a pure, white light, which grew stronger and stronger. Emily looked at her healing gem. The rainbow stone was glowing with all of its colors, the two magic beams touched, and began to spark.

**_All my desire are the flames of the eternal fire  
Strange winds of time killed the flames blew out all that was mine_**


	15. Forever Shine On

**I do not own the "Avalon: Web of Magic/Quest for Magic" series or the song "Forever Shine On", they belong to Rahcel Roberts and Edenbridge respectively.**

* * *

_**In my darkest hour I pray  
For a life seemed gone astray  
See a flower grow**_

Emily dropped the sand, sending it spilling over the floor and the crystal quartz fell with it. As it made contact with the stone floor, it broke into six pieces and the magic inside of it exploded.

"You fool!" Ruin screeched. The bright white light dissipated, and a thick, black-green bled from the center of the stone. The magic worked like acid, burning the floor and spreading to the table. The liquid ate through the wood quickly, and Ruin jumped over it to avoid being touched.

"It's healing magic!" He shrieked, pleading with her desperately. "You can stop it!"

"No," Emily whispered. This couldn't be healing magic. It was too evil. Too destructive.

_**In a never ending night  
Far away a colored light  
I can see a rainbow rise**_

Emily suddenly realized that the colors of the pool must have come from her own gem. She ripped the stone from its clasp in her silver bracelet and threw it into the water, hoping she was doing the right thing. The acid halted where it was. It then began to change, pulling its droplets together to form a snake-like creature, which turned around and headed straight for the pool at lightning speed. The magical form had pieces of clear quartz for eyes, briefly reminding Emily of Tweek. The snake dove into the pool, and the water began boiling with color. Rainbow magic grappled with the green and black substance, which Emily knew for sure must have been derived from the Black Fire.

_**I could believe  
In the love I found so long  
You're the air that I breathe  
Let us dream a dream  
Forever shine on  
In the heaven of delight  
Where love will shine a light  
Let your beauty flow  
Forever shine on**_

Emily kneeled down by the water's edge and placed her hand in a spot of pink, then yellow, then green. The magic seemed to strengthen from the power of Emily's touch, and began to fight off the acid with a renewed vengeance. Ruin watched in amazement.

"You're stronger than her," He said breathlessly.

"Who?" Emily asked, watching as her own magic streamed from her fingertips to help her magic.

"The former Healer. That was her crystal."

"What?!" She whipped her head around, sending her red hair flying. How could a former mage's magic become so distant from what it had been meant to do?

"The Dark Sorceress' former ally." Ruin said.

_**In the distance I behold  
Existing seems so cold  
I hear an angel sing**_

Emily heartbeat quickened, and with it, her magic seemed to back off and start to lose. Emily knew that if she let the acid win, it would escape the pool and eat everything in its path, and she didn't know anything about this kind of magic, She didn't want to risk it growing and destroying the whole forest and making its way toward Farthingdale or Fairy Glen. She focused her excess emotions on her magic, forcing herself to turn her negative energy into something positive. The magic strengthened once again, and turned into a water snake of its own. The creature opened its mouth, and sunk its fangs into the other snake. The two forms were well matched, drawing on their own magic and striking, writhing to get out of the other's grasp. Finally, the acid snake began to get tired, and clumsy. It miscalculated a strike, sinking its fangs into its own magic supply and visibly weakening. Its quartz eyes darkened to a pale gray, and it lost its form to the water. Emily's magical creature lost its form soon after, the rainbow colored water turning to calming greens and blues, and taking over the whole pool. Emily fished out her stone from the water and stood up.

_**In the evening glow I seek  
For a glimmering mountain's peak  
Imagining I was free**_

Ruin approached from behind her. "You could be great," He said, throwing white powder over her, which sent her visions of grand parties and giant palaces. "Help me," he said simply.

This is it, Emily thought excitedly. The vision!

"No." She told him.

"Look at what you can do!" He cried. "You can control the entire ocean! You've even done it before!"

"The balance would be off," she said, waving a hand over the pool to quiet it. She looked at the doorway and smiled. wondering how the strings of past, present, and future worked. "Googbye, Ruin."

"I tried to give you the power to see the future. I thought that would convince you!"

Emily pulled open the heavy door. "Guess it didn't work," she said, as the door slammed shut.

_**I could believe  
In the love I found so long  
You're the air that I breathe  
Let us dream a dream  
Forever shine on  
In the heaven of delight  
Where love will shine a light  
Let your beauty flow  
Forever shine on**_

When she walked out into the corridor, she was surprised. She was face to face with Kara, Lyra, Dreamer, Adriane, and Ozzie!

"How did you escape?!" She asked. The group looked at each other, then back at her.

"Magic." They all answered her at the same time.

"You?" Kara questioned. Emily glanced behind her at the door. "Let's get out of here. I'll explain when we get back to Ravenswood."

**_Like a candle in the wind  
We are fragile and we suffer  
From within our deepest hearts  
Let the wind breeze through your hair  
And let your spirit fly  
Forever shine on_**

_

* * *

_

The end. Hope you enjoyed it!

(Did you know that on the twentieth of April, I'll have been on for five years? Exciting, huh?)


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